Recorded during the historic American Record Corporation (ARC) field sessions on 2 March 1937, this 10-inch pre-war shellac single features the highly obscure blues ensemble Three Fifteen and His Squares. Fronted by the gravelly vocal grit of Shreveport's own David Blunson, this record stands as a masterpiece of deep southern pre-war blues.
The A-side features the rare, uptempo rhythmic drive of "Saturday Night On Texas Avenue," while the flip side delivers the slow-drag masterclass of "Three Fifteen Blues." Driven by heavy rolling piano lines that anchor the rhythm, the tracks weave a primitive horn section into a traditional country-blues framework.
This scarce recording represents one of only four known tracks this elusive group ever cut, making it an essential artifact of lost Depression-era southern jive.

"Saturday Night On Texas Avenue" serves as a rare, explicit musical map of the Jim Crow-era South. Texas Avenue was the roaring, vibrant epicenter of African American commercial and nightlife culture in Shreveport, Louisiana. For working-class Black communities across the rural Delta, Texas Avenue represented a weekend sanctuary of neon-lit juke joints, theatres, and street corners where rural country blues collided with urban ambition. This record captures that raw, unvarnished atmosphere at its absolute peak, speaking directly to the shared experiences, struggles, and late-night escapism of southern Black audiences navigating the harsh socio-economic realities of the late 1930s.
Released on the Vocalion Records label, this disc represents the highly predatory yet culturally vital "Race Record" marketing era. Pressed in strictly small batches and distributed almost exclusively to local southern shops and juke joints, survivors are incredibly scarce.
Furthermore, this copy features elite archival pedigree, originating directly from the celebrated estate collection of Michel Chaigne, one of post-war Europe's most meticulous blues discographers. This exceptional specimen is of profound historical importance: it served as the literal physical source audio disc relied upon by Johnny Parth's legendary Document Records label to compile the definitive historical anthology, Rare 1930s Blues Vol. 2 (1936-1940).
The Entire Discovered Discography: Three Fifteen and His Squares are complete ghosts of the pre-war recording era. This lone 1937 tracking event represents half their entire commercial output before disappearing completely.
The Remaster Source: Because original retail stock copies of Vocalion 03515 were worn to pieces by heavy steel tracking needles, this specific high-grade specimen was relied upon to supply the clean audio transfers for the global Document Records historical project.
Chaigne's Archival Designation: This premier field-recording piece was carefully cataloged and preserved inside Chaigne's curated estate files under his explicit handwritten ledger stamp of "Rare."
Condition Report
Overall Grading (VJM System): EE- (Side A) / E- to V+ (Side B)
Play Surface: Highly preserved, attractive archival survival. The deep pre-war Vocalion shellac retains an excellent factory gloss across both sides.
Side A (EE-) is remarkably clean and reflective, showing only faint, microscopic sleeve wisps from decades of careful archival storage.
Side B (E-/V+) displays a few light, superficial, non-feeling surface scuffs typical of a record that saw light regional rotation, but retains its strong underlying luster. Completely free of deep needle digs, stress fractures, tight hairlines, or rim chips.
Audio Performance: Both sides track beautifully with a loud, robust, and immensely clear acoustic presence. David Blunson's commanding vocals and the heavy piano bass-notes register with fantastic definition. Surface noise is perfectly uniform, low, and remarkably unobtrusive, allowing the primitive pre-war fidelity to cut through cleanly without any heavy tics, repeating pops, or loud distortion.
Center Labels: Classic late-1930s blue-and-gold Vocalion typography layout. Both sides are beautifully legible, clean, and crisp with highly reflective gold print over the iconic dark blue background. The center spindle hole is tight with minimal trailing wear, and the labels are completely free of modern ink handwriting, surface tearing, or vintage dealer sticker residue.

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Postage & Packing Information
78 RPM shellac discs require uncompromising protection to ensure safe transit.
This item will be sandwiched securely between layers of thick card, enveloped thoroughly in multiple layers of heavy-duty bubble wrap, and suspended within a sturdy, oversized doubleskin box to eliminate any internal movement or shifting, ensuring all perimeter voids are fully buffered against impact.

Your order will be carefully packed and promptly dispatched.